-Caveat Lector- Documentary Examines NSA Role By EUN-KYUNG KIM .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Security Agency, the supersecret intelligence mission most Americans do not even know exists, gives some explanation in a television documentary for its tightlipped behavior. ``It's really important that the American people understand what we do, that we are in fact a relatively powerful organization. And it's absolutely critical that they don't fear the power that we have,'' the agency's director, Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, says in a rare interview. The History Channel program, airing Monday as part of the network's ``History's Mysteries'' series, seeks to explain the agency's mission and examines recent controversies. Considered the eavesdropping branch of the intelligence community, the NSA gathers information through satellites, telephone intercepts and other methods. Not much else is known about the NSA, which employees joke stands for ``No Such Agency'' Hayden offers little more. ``We intercept communications of adversaries of the United States and attempt to turn that into wisdom for American policy-makers and commanders,'' he said, according to a transcript of the show. ``By the same token, we attempt to prevent other nations from doing that to the United States of America. That's what we do.'' Congress recently resolved a budget battle over funds for the NSA when President Clinton signed legislation authorizing money for intelligence agencies, including the NSA and CIA. He had vetoed the original spending bill because of a provision that would have made the leaking of government secrets a felony offense. The exact budget figure included in the bill is classified. ``If you were comparing NSA to a corporation in terms of dollars spent, floor space occupied and personnel employed, it would rank in the top 10 percent of the Fortune 500 companies,'' said Judith Emmel, a spokeswoman for the agency, which has its headquarters in Fort Meade, Md. Last year, the NSA defended itself against allegations it illegally snooped into e-mail messages and other communications between ordinary Americans. On the cable program, Hayden denied such action. ``I'm here to tell you that we don't get close to the Fourth Amendment,'' he said, referring to the constitutional provision prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure. ``We, for better or worse, stay comfortably away from that line.'' The program recounts the agency's history and the codes it has deciphered from Japanese, German, Vietnamese and other foreign governments during past conflicts. ``The ability to do communications intelligence has saved lives. It has kept us out of war. It has shortened war when we've been in it,'' said David Hatch, NSA senior historian. The NSA had to revise its mission after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. The agency soon shifted its focus to terrorists, drug traffickers and the threat of war over the Internet. ``Cyberwar is a term that you hear today a lot. And the business we're in is to counter the effectiveness of cyberwarfare against our infrastructures,'' said Michael Jacobs, deputy director of information assurance. ``We acquire information, we determine its value and we pass it on,'' said Maureen Baginski, who heads NSA's Office of the Director. ``Really, what you have here is a bunch of Americans that are safeguarding Americans.'' 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